This Day In History, 1819: Queen Victoria Was Born

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200 years ago today Queen Victoria was born at Kensington Palace — now the home of Victoria’s great-great-great-great-grandson, The Duke of Cambridge. To mark the anniversary, we’re exploring the @RoyalCollectionTrust to take a look at significant moments at Kensington Palace in Victoria’s life. 1. Princess Victoria first met her future husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, at Kensington Palace in 1836. This painting by Alexandre-Jean Dubois Drahonet from 1832 shows a young Victoria in Kensington Palace Gardens, with the Palace visible in the background on the right side of the painting. 2. On the death of her Uncle William IV in the early hours of 20 June 1837, Victoria became Queen at the age of just 18. This painting by Sir David Wilkie depicts the moment later that morning when Princess Victoria heard of her accession to the throne. She recorded the incident which took place at Kensington Palace in her journal; I was awoke at 6 o'clock by Mamma who told me that the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham were here and wished to see me. I got out of bed and went into my sitting room (only in my dressing gown) and alone, and saw them. Lord Conyngham (the Lord Chamberlain) then acquainted me that my poor Uncle, the King, was no more, and had expired at 12 minutes past 2 this morning and consequently that I am Queen. 3. On the day of her accession Queen Victoria held her first council in the Red Saloon at Kensington Palace, shown in this painting by Sir David Wilkie. Charles Greville, present at the council, later remarked that Victoria handled the occasion with ‘perfect calmness and self-possession’. Three weeks later, Victoria moved from Kensington Palace into Buckingham Palace. 4. Princess Louise, Victoria’s sixth child, designed this statue of her mother in 1893, which now sits outside Kensington Palace. This summer, a special new exhibition ‘Queen Victoria’s Palace’ will tell the story of how the young Queen transformed Buckingham Palace from a private house into a working royal residence. Visit @RoyalCollectionTrust to find out more. Images used courtesy of Royal Collection Trust.

A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on May 23, 2019 at 11:47pm PDT